The Tale of Zutara
by yourdyingwish
Summary: "Zutara...what the -bleep- is that?" The gaang is searching for another pastime other than training. They stumble across a town called "Zutara" and the story behind it. -UPDATED-
1. Just Another Town, Or is it?

"Momo, if you don't give me that leechi nut, you will face the wrath of my boomerang!"

"…"

"Sokka, you really should stop pestering him." Aang suggested to his food deprived friend. He shook his head slowly and chuckled at Sokka's insaneness.

"Fine, but then we better find something to eat. And soon." Sokka stood up from his crouching position and stretched out his legs.

They were wondering around in the forests looking for something to do, and in Sokka's case, eat. After the Combustion Man had nearly destroyed the Air Temple, they decided to find something better to do than just sit around and train. Toph had been busy shaping the metal in her hands. Katara was fiddling with a lock of hair, braiding and re-braiding, while Zuko was lingering away from the group, observing them all.

_Give me one reason._ Katara's voice lingered in Zuko's mind and he couldn't help but gawk at how she appeared to stand taller than him the other night. _I won't give anyone a reason to not trust me, I promise. _He made a silent oath and went back to looking down at his feet. Which, of course, reminded him of Toph's burnt ones.

Zuko glanced up at Toph and felt a pang of guilt. He remembered hearing that her feet were her eyes, which was weird. But, she used vibrations or something.

"Hey Sparky, it's okay, you know, about my feet. In case you were wondering." The little earthbender said nonchalantly. Zuko's eyes squinted in confusion, _maybe she's a mind reader_, he thought, _it certainly wouldn't surprise me one bit._

"Hey, guys," Katara turned towards the group, "do you hear, I don't know, music?" Her lips twitched before forming a smile.

Aang lifted up his chin and his gray eyes brightened noticeably. "It is! There must be a town nearby!" he exclaimed.

"Food!" Sokka placed a hand on his stomach and started running.

"Uhm, Sokka? It's coming from over here." Katara pointed a finger to the east of where Sokka was running.

"Oh, right." Zuko smirked at the "warrior's" instincts.

It was a small town, but lively at that. There was a festival of some sort, and the streets were crowded with people.

Sokka grinned sheepishly at the flying lemur, "Momo, looks like we'll be eatin' good tonight." The lemur tilted its head conspicuously at the boy. The two stalked off into the direction of a cabbage stand.

Aang picked up his staff and looked over at Katara, "I'm gonna go find out where we're at. Meet up with me later?" He walked off before she had a chance to answer.

Toph grabbed Katara's hand and spoke, "Hey, Sugar Queen, help me find some good grub." Katara merely laughed and led her in the trail of Sokka. Thus, leaving Zuko alone, again.

(AN: if you're wondering where Appa is, he's at the Air Temple. They didn't abandon the place, they just went exploring. I didn't forget about him!)

Zuko breathed in warily, and began to search for somewhere to hide out. He discovered a dark alley and just as he was about to walk in, a hand latched onto his arm.

He growled and swiped at the fingers that were clutching the fabric of his shirt. "GET roff ophf meph.." The end of his plea was muffled as a hand latched over his lips. Furious, he felt fire surge through his veins when a voice stopped him.

"Zuko. We've been waiting for you."

* * *

"One dragon's heart, please."

Katara searched inside of her knapsack for a copper piece, when the merchant reached out to stop her. She looked up, and gave him a strange look.

"I would never let Miss Katara pay for something at my stand." He smiled and handed her the small fruit.

"What? Oh, come on!" Sokka threw his hands up in exasperation. "He made _me_ pay for _my_ meal!"

Katara ignored her brother and went back to the merchant. "How do you know my name?" she asked, bewildered.

"I would recognize those eyes anywhere." He proceeded to help the customer behind her, but Katara was still extremely confused.

"Wh-h-how do you know me?" She handed the dragon's heart to Toph who took a hearty bite out of it.

"Go to the middle of the square, it will be explained to you then."

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" Zuko attempted to scream, but his words were still incomprehensible. No answer. The person just continued to shove him forward. Suddenly, the grip on his arms was gone and he was free to move. With precision, he whirled around to grab whoever had had him captured. But it was no longer some mysterious person. It was Katara.

_Shit._

"What are you doing?" she scoffed, anger radiating in her voice. "Don't touch me!" she swiped off Zuko's hands and stepped back quickly, scrambling into a fighting stance.

"No! I mean–I thought you were..." He stuttered lamely; he didn't want the girl to have another reason to hate him. Katara pointed a finger in his face and opened her mouth to speak when a voice interrupted them from having a rather heated discussion.

"Happy Zutara Day!"

* * *

A/N: zomg. revision rocks my socks. this chapter isn't a whole lot different. ah, oh well. the next one'll get better.


	2. What The Hell is Zutara?

"What the hell are you talking about?" Katara screeched, hands on her hips and braid swinging violently behind her.

Zuko snarled and folded his arms across his chest. "Zutara?" he sneered, "is that even a real name?"

"Somebody start talking!" A slither of water trailed out of Katara's canteen as her face twisted into a scowl. She was _not _in the mood to be toyed with. …Or in the mood to be in the same place as Zuko. Ew.

The man in front of them that had wished them "happy Zutara day" laced his fingers together before placing them on top of his belly. He chuckled heartifly before answering the teen benders.

"Children," he began, "Zutara Day is a time for love and friendship and family. Do not spoil it with petty hate."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever, but you still haven't told us what Zutara Day even is." In the corner of his eye, he saw Katara nod in agreement and felt a pang in his chest. Man. He must be getting hungry or something.

The man laughed again, causing the irritation in the kids to boil even hotter. Katara raised an eyebrow, but lowered her water back into the pouch–the guy seemed to be harmless after all.

"So," she asked in her matronly holier-than-thou voice. "Would you mind telling us what it is, now? Because, unlike some," Katara shot a venomous look at Zuko. "people, I've got things to do, people to save."

The firebender in question snorted. The man eyed them suspisiuocly before answering. "Well, Zutara day is a combination of names. Two names, to be exact." He waited for the kids to catch on but they stood there silently, expecting. The man sighed before continuing. "Zuko. And Katara."

He waited to see what their reactions were but they just stood there, unconcerned. _Insightful children,_ the man thought. Was he going to have to spell out _everything_ for them? By the look on the bender's faces, apparently, yes.

* * *

"Hey, Sokka. Where's Katara at? I found this great necklace and I'm sure-" Sokka cut him off, using a hand to cover Aang's face as he marched through the crowd.

"What are you doing?" The avatar spat out, trying to get the taste of unwashed hand out of his mouth.

"I've got to get to the middle of the town. Some merchant was going out of his way to be nice to Katara. _She didn't have to pay for her food!_" He screeched as he pushed his way through the people filled street.

"So what? Some man gave Katara a free meal? Why do you care?" Aang stuffed the necklace into his pocket and followed the determined water boy.

"He acted as if she were **royalty**. He knew her name, and told her to go to the middle of the town because," Sokka inhaled and gave his best impression of the man, "'everything will be explained to you there'". He scowled and kept on shoving dancers left and right.

Aang sighed, he was sure everything was alright with Katara. What could possibly go wrong? The town people seemed nice enough, and there was some celebration that kept everyone occupied. She'd be fine. She would be even better once Aang got to her. His fist clenched the tiny necklace in his hand.

He was hesitant to buy it since they were too stingy on money, but he figured Katara's face when she saw it would be enough. Aang smiled as he imagined the waterbender's eyes light up in delight, _Oh Aang,_ she would say, _You're so thoughtful. I love you. _And then they would kiss and hold hands under Yue's sweet light.

At least, that's what he hoped for.

* * *

Toph was sitting on the floor, her dragon's heart already devoured, leaning against a large building. Her face smirked as she remembered Sokka storming off after Katara. It took all her strength to not earthbend his feet to the ground. He acted as if Katara was the one who was blind, not Toph.

Of course, she could take care of herself. She's always been able to. And it was his sister, he needed to act that way towards her. But when he took off, Toph couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Not that she liked Sokka in that sort of way, ew. It was just that ever since she left her parents, no one had bothered to worry about Toph. She liked it that way, don't get her wrong. But, the only girl anyone paid attention to was Katara.

Katara this, Katara that. The only person who never mentioned her was Zuko, and that was just because he was in love with her. Mind you, he had no idea he was. But Toph knew; she always knew these kinds of things. She could tell when someone was lying, nervous, or –in this case- in love. Their heartbeat would quicken and she could feel the change in the way they held themselves.

It was pretty easy to pinpoint.

She'd feel something similar to it when Aang was near the pretty waterbender, but it was different. He _thought_ he was in love with her. Really, he just had either a mundo-crush or loved her like he would his mom. Twinkletoes would have to figure it out on his own though, no matter how hard it was going to be.

The boy wasn't exactly a walking genius.

So Toph wasn't sure why she was getting so upset. So what? Everyone was paying more attention to Katara than her? That's the way she wanted it to be, right? RIGHT?

Sighing angrily, the earthbender stood up. _Someone_ was going to have to find Katara. Someone with brains, that is.

Damn her awesomeness.

* * *

"I give up! What's the day for?" Zuko snapped sarcastically, shoving his hands down in to his pockets. He didn't have time for this...this...this whatever it was. His heartbeat was acting up from being in such close proximities with Katara and he figured it was his stomach telling him to eat. Maybe.

Speaking of…

Zuko glanced over at Katara and found her surprisingly intrigued by the whole thing. Her eyes sparkled and she stared at the old man in awe. As if he was anything to gawk at. The old man was fat, and hunched over. His long gray hair cascaded down his back, longer than Uncle's was. Uncle. During all the commotion, Zuko had forgotten about his make-do father.

Thinking of Uncle reminded him of how he had betrayed the old man in the Crystal Catcacombs. Which reminded him of how he betrayed Katara. Which reminded him of how she hated him.

Agni damnit.

Katara wanted to laugh. No, she needed to laugh. Hers and Zuko's names combined–there had to be a good reason. It was ridiculous. There had to be a story behind it, maybe a love story. Wait, why would she want it to be a love story? Zuko was bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad. _Hot_, but bad.

"It's really an age old story," the old man began, "but, I guess I must start from the beginning."

"Long ago, there was a beautiful waterbender Katara. She had fallen in love with a hotheaded firebender, Zuko. It was a match made by the spirits themselves. Unfortunately, the lovers' families did not approve.

They thought it dishonorable to marry someone out of their nation. Fleeing the anger, the couple ran away to the air temples. Along the way, they became lost. Nearly losing hope, they stumbled upon an abandoned town.

There, they decided to get married and start a life. Eventually word got out to the other nations. They at first were furious, but could not deny how strong the love that bound them was. They all attended the wedding. From all the visitations, the town became famous for housing the lovers when no one else would.

Out of gratitude, they renamed the town after the couple. Every year, we celebrate the day of the wedding because we are so thankful for a start in a new world. A start fueled by love."

The two teens stood speechless, and the man smiled, priding himself on finally getting through to them. Finally, Zuko spoke.

"So what's that got to do with us?"

Or maybe not.

* * *

A/N: ew mah god. i totally forgot about toph. chapter five=making up for leaving Toph out of most of this story. oopsies.


	3. Sokka Finds a Haunted House

"Sokka, you have no idea where you're going, do you?"

Aang rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Sokka threw open another door in the village. He had said Katara would be in the _center _of the town, but apparently that logic wasn't appealing to the warrior. Sokka ducked his head in and looked around wildly as a few girls shrieked and hid behind some chairs.

"Of course I know where I'm going! The instincts are strong with this one!"

He yelled as he forcefully pulled a girl to the side to ask her a few questions. He cleared his throat and widened his eye at the little pale girl cowering in front of him. "Mi'Lady, is this the center of the town?"

The girl shook her head vigorously and gave a nervous cough before starting to cry. Aang swayed on his heels uncomfortably and tugged on the teenage boy's sleeve. "Sokka, come on, I'll ask for directions. Let's just _go_."

Sokka unhanded the girl and craned his neck, seeing as he was still suspicious of the supposed _center of the town_. He gave a brief nod and started to walk out the door. Aang gave a small prayer of thanks and followed behind him. They walked by a couple houses, each one Aang having to pry Sokka away from so he wouldn't make a scene.

Eventually, they reached a farm house with a large chicken pen and Sokka shot his nose up in the air. "Aang," he started defiantly, "I doubt _this_ is the center of the town." Aang rolled his eyes and grabbed his friend's arm as he walked the pathway to the house. They reached the door and the young avatar cautiously rapped on the wood a couple times before stepping back.

A large spider-fly started to slowly trail down a single line of web and stopped right in front of Sokka. The boy narrowed his eyes at it before blowing air towards it to make it fly backwards. The bug flew, alright.

Its large wings spread out and it aimed straight for Sokka. The warrior shrieked and hid behind Aang as the monk used his staff to ward it off. But the spider-fly kept coming back. Annoyed, Aang blew a large gust of wind at it just as the door to the house opened. The person who answered must've flown back several feet because when the duo looked inside, there was no one there.

Shrugging, the two boys stepped inside and glanced around before taking another step in. The door behind them shut with a bang, startling the guys enough to make them jump. Sokka inhaled deeply before explaining to Aang,

"This was **so **the wrong house to ask directions at."

* * *

A/N: uhm. is anyone still alive out there?  
*crickets*  
boo.


	4. The REAL tale of Zutara

"So. You boys looking for the center of town?"

Sokka and Aang sat on a couch rather uncomfortably, their backs straight and hands on their laps. After the door had shut behind them, some old lady had appeared out of nowhere and told them to sit down. She was now in the kitchen, doing heaven only knew what.

Aang spoke first. "Uh. Yes ma'am."

The woman poked her head out from behind the wall and gave the boys a piercing look. "Well you're in the wrong place!"

They were beginning to wish the place _had_ been haunted.

Aang shifted nervously in his seat "Yes ma'am. Well, we'll just be going now–"

"Ah-ah-ahhh, not before I serve you some milk and cookies!"

Sokka's brow furrowed. "What are cookies?"

"Oh. Right." The lady coughed. "I mean some tea and biscuits!"

"Sweetness…" Sokka leaned over to the airbender and whispered in his ear, "Hey. Aang. I think we hit the jackpot with this one."

Aang shook his head slightly before whispering back. "Sokka…I really think we should just go find Katara now."

"Did someone say Zutara?" The old woman screeched as she walked out of the kitchen.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Uh..no?"

"Well then, you're in luck!" The lady clapped her hands and sat down in the chair facing the boys' couch they were currently sitting on. "I happen to know the _true_ story behind the phenomenon."

Sokka stroked his fake beard. "What phenomenon?" he asked, curiously.

The woman shot him a fierce glare. "Shush!" she held a bony finger to her lips. "I ain't talkin' to you, boy!"

Sokka scrunched lower in his seat as his eyes sunk to the ground. "Oh right, my bad."

"Anyway." The old coot sat back in her chair and cleared her throat professionally.

"Long ago, there was this beautiful female waterbender–"

"Named Katara right?" Aang interjected, bouncing in his seat.

"NO!" The woman screeched. "Named Zuko."

"…but Zuko's a boy's name." he said, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

The old woman scoffed. "I think I know who's who in my own story!"

Sokka waved a careless hand in the air. "Right...right...carry on."

"Well. She and Katara (this mean, old firebender) fell in love one day. But their cultures forbade it so they ran away. They got lost in this forest trying to escape their angry families when they came across this town. It was pretty much a ghost town but they decided to live in it because…well just because."

"Was it _this _town?"

"Duh, Sokka, now be quiet. I want to hear this."

"Thank you m'boy. Now, as I was saying. They settled down and eventually planned to get married. The people in the town were in a frenzy trying to get everything ready for the ceremony. Eventually, the townspeople let things slip and word got around that Zuko and Katara was gettin' married."

"What happened next?" The two boys asked in unison.

"Well if you would quit interrupting me, I'd tell ya! The two bender's families were outraged but then realized how deep their love ran and they came to terms with it. So they wound up at the wedding to beg for forgiveness. Well, one thing led to another and soon people from all four nations were attending the ceremony. The town became pretty famous and to show their gratitude, they named it Zutara. A combination of the names."

"Like the city of Omashu?" Aang asked excitedly.

"No, not like the city Omashu." The woman spat sarcastically. "They _combined _the names."

"Yeah…" the airbender began. "Like the city of Omashu."

The woman cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "Huh. Well. Ya'll better scram, I got to feed my baby."

Sokka stood up and stretched his back before asking, "You have a baby?"

The lady looked insulted and replied haughtily. "Yeah, Fluffy. She's my little arachna-cutie. She's outside somewhere…"

Suddenly an image of a creepy bug being blown away by airbending made Aang swallow hard.

"You mean a spider?" Aang asked nervously, his hand tugging on his collar.

"Yes of course I mean a spider!" The woman eyed him skeptically. "What else would I be talking about?"

Aang shrugged, which was more like a twitch, before backing up quickly. "Uhh..well. Thanks for the story but we got to go!"

The two boys scurried out the door, not bothering to look behind them. They ran as fast they could, with Sokka lagging slightly behind. As soon as they were clear from the creepy house and the creepy lady who was probably in relation to King Bumi, Aang stopped to take a breath.

The Water Tribe warrior panted harshly as he took his place next to the kid. They gave each other a releieved glance before bursting out in laughter.

After they calmed down, the duo began to walk again.

Suddenly, Sokka froze.

"We forgot to ask where the middle of town was."

Aang's eyes flickered blue. "ARRGHGHHH."

* * *

A/N: holy blond cheerleader batman. I updated this. I think the world might explode. I will go back and revise the other chapters. It's depressing how suckish they are. This is only in dire need of a name change. The whole thing is in need of a change. Well. Any thoughts?


End file.
